You saw it coming a mile away. Typical White House defense is to discredit the messenger and make narrow (ala Dave Burris) defenses that don’t directly deny something, just deny one teensy-weensy portion that isn’t exactly true. They call Suskind’s new book, “gutter journalism” Yep, that’s what Pulitzer Prize Winning authors usually give you. Pathetic.
Well, Suskind got his sources on tape.
God willing this goes somewhere. Just a suggestion. Read the SALON.com piece linked below.
Today Suskind took the unusual step of publishing a transcript of his taped interview with Richer in June. Richer left the agency in 2005, saying that he lacked confidence in the agency’s leadership.
Also today the story got new legs — and additional details — from Joe Conason’s column in Salon. Conason takes us back to the time of the bogus letter’s first appearance.
Here are some examples of “narrow” defenses that you constantly see from the White House (and dave burris)
Take a close look at what Tony Fratto, deputy White House press secretary, told Politico:
“The allegation that the White House directed anyone to forge a document from Habbush to Saddam is just absurd.”
Is it false, or just absurd? Did they direct anyone to forge any documents? From Habbush to someone else? Or from someone else to Saddam? Sounds like an attorney wrote that one.
And here’s what Tenet said in a statement also issued by the White House.
“There was no such order from the White House to me nor, to the best of my knowledge, was anyone from CIA ever involved in any such effort.”
In the transcript Suskind released today, he asked Richer about what kind of paper trail is created when setting an operation like this in motion. Richer said there was only one, closely guarded, piece of paper that originated from the White House.
Rob: It probably passed through five or six people. George probably showed it to me, but then passed it probably to Jim Pavitt, the DDO, who then passed it down to his chief of staff who passed it to me. Cause that’s how–you know, so I saw the original. I got a copy of it. But it was, there probably was–Ron: Right. You saw the original with the White House stationery, but you didn’t–down the ranks, then it creates other paper.
Rob: Yeah, no, exactly.”
h/t as always to TPM.com. They rock